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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2011: when each graha changes sign

In 2011, Guru moves into Mesha on 8 May; Rahu moves into Vrishchika on 6 Jun; Shani moves into Tula on 15 Nov. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

The grahas on 1 January 2011

Sidereal (Lahiri) sign, and from when to when. Open a graha for its whole year.

Gochar calendar for 2011

Times in IST. Each is the same instant everywhere on Earth. The Moon changes sign every two and a half days, so its list is on its own page.

Sign changeRetrograde / directAsta / rising

January 2011

  • 1 Jan4:31 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

  • 8 Jan12:18 am

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 8 Jan11:46 am

    Mangala enters Makara

  • 14 Jan6:31 pm

    Surya enters Makara

  • 26 Jan11:08 am

    Shani turns retrograde at 23°13′ Kanya

  • 30 Jan3:48 am

    Shukra enters Dhanu

  • 31 Jan5:45 am

    Budha enters Makara

February 2011

  • 5 Feb12:08 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 13 Mar†

  • 13 Feb7:29 am

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 15 Feb4:31 pm

    Mangala enters Kumbha

  • 18 Feb5:26 pm

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 25 Feb6:01 am

    Shukra enters Makara

March 2011

  • 6 Mar8:11 pm

    Budha enters Meena

  • 13 Mar6:39 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 15 Mar4:20 am

    Surya enters Meena

  • 22 Mar12:29 pm

    Shukra enters Kumbha

  • 23 Mar2:49 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 21 Apr†

  • 25 Mar6:22 pm

    Mangala enters Meena

  • 28 Mar5:34 pm

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 31 Mar2:17 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 0°21′ Mesha

April 2011

  • 2 Apr8:55 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 17 Apr†

  • 2 Apr12:30 pm

    Budha enters Meena (moving backward)

  • 14 Apr12:47 pm

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 16 Apr10:40 am

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 17 Apr4:49 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 21 Apr5:26 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 23 Apr3:34 pm

    Budha turns direct at 18°53′ Meena

  • 26 Apr12:25 am

    Mangala rises again (asta ends)†

May 2011

  • 3 May2:32 pm

    Mangala enters Mesha

  • 8 May1:21 pm

    Guru enters Mesha

  • 11 May5:14 am

    Shukra enters Mesha

  • 11 May8:35 am

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 15 May9:37 am

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 31 May12:00 am

    Budha enters Vrishabha

June 2011

  • 1 Jun1:00 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 25 Jun†

  • 4 Jun9:51 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

  • 6 Jun6:46 pm

    Rahu enters Vrishchika (moving backward)

  • 6 Jun6:46 pm

    Ketu enters Vrishabha (moving backward)

  • 13 Jun12:37 am

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

  • 13 Jun9:53 am

    Shani turns direct at 16°26′ Kanya

  • 14 Jun6:50 am

    Budha enters Mithuna

  • 15 Jun4:13 pm

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 25 Jun10:44 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 29 Jun12:35 am

    Budha enters Karka

  • 29 Jun12:19 pm

    Shukra enters Mithuna

July 2011

  • 11 Jul8:33 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 22 Sep†

  • 17 Jul3:07 am

    Surya enters Karka

  • 20 Jul11:29 am

    Budha enters Simha

  • 23 Jul11:43 pm

    Shukra enters Karka

  • 25 Jul6:06 pm

    Mangala enters Mithuna

August 2011

  • 3 Aug9:19 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 7°11′ Simha

  • 10 Aug7:21 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 24 Aug†

  • 17 Aug12:48 am

    Budha enters Karka (moving backward)

  • 17 Aug7:35 am

    Shukra enters Simha

  • 17 Aug11:35 am

    Surya enters Simha

  • 24 Aug7:02 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 27 Aug3:33 am

    Budha turns direct at 24°41′ Karka

  • 30 Aug2:30 pm

    Guru turns retrograde at 16°20′ Mesha

September 2011

  • 5 Sep2:15 am

    Budha enters Simha

  • 9 Sep3:25 pm

    Mangala enters Karka

  • 10 Sep12:30 pm

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 12 Sep6:13 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 20 Oct†

  • 17 Sep11:34 am

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 22 Sep1:51 pm

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 22 Sep8:48 pm

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 26 Sep6:00 pm

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 31 Oct†

October 2011

  • 4 Oct3:51 pm

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 9 Oct11:24 pm

    Budha enters Tula

  • 17 Oct11:34 pm

    Surya enters Tula

  • 20 Oct8:26 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 28 Oct6:53 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

  • 29 Oct3:10 pm

    Budha enters Vrishchika

  • 30 Oct9:44 pm

    Mangala enters Simha

  • 31 Oct6:45 am

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

November 2011

  • 15 Nov8:25 am

    Shani enters Tula

  • 16 Nov11:22 pm

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 21 Nov10:26 pm

    Shukra enters Dhanu

  • 24 Nov12:49 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 26°06′ Vrishchika

  • 29 Nov3:00 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 10 Dec†

December 2011

  • 10 Dec2:43 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Dec7:13 am

    Budha turns direct at 9°50′ Vrishchika

  • 16 Dec3:39 am

    Shukra enters Makara

  • 16 Dec2:01 pm

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 26 Dec3:53 am

    Guru turns direct at 6°20′ Mesha

† Practice varies. Texts and almanacs give slightly different asta limits, and some almanacs use the true rather than the mean node for Rahu and Ketu, which can move the nodes’ sign changes by some weeks.

See also: Transits over your chart · Gochar (glossary) · Sade Sati · Ayanamsa · Sankranti

Understand

What gochar is

Gochar means the movement of the grahas: each moves on through the zodiac, and when it crosses from one rasi into the next, that is its sign change (sankramana). This page only says which graha is where, and when. In the classical method gochar is read by counting from a person’s natal Moon sign; to see today’s sky against your own chart, open the transits tool.

Retrograde (vakri) and direct (margi)

Seen from the Earth, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn now and then appear to move backward for a while. That is retrograde motion; the instant the graha stops and turns is a station, and moving forward again is turning direct. It is an effect of the Earth and the planet moving on their orbits at different speeds. The Sun and Moon are never retrograde; Rahu and Ketu (mean) always move backward.

Combustion (asta)

A graha very close to the Sun is lost in its glare; the texts call it asta (set), and its reappearance udaya (rising). The Surya Siddhanta gives a distance limit for each graha. The limits used here: Mangala 17°, Budha 14° (12° when retrograde), Guru 11°, Shukra 10° (8° when retrograde), Shani 15°. Almanacs leave out the asta periods of Guru and Shukra when choosing times for samskaras such as weddings.

Sidereal signs

Indian almanacs count the rasis against the stars (nirayana). Western (tropical) signs run about 24° ahead, so the dates printed there are about three weeks earlier than these. The ayanamsa used here is Lahiri.

How this is calculated

Each graha’s apparent geocentric position from NASA JPL’s DE421 ephemeris, less the Lahiri ayanamsa. The instants of crossing a rasi edge, of zero speed and of reaching the asta limit are found by bisection to under a second. Small differences in ayanamsa can move a slow graha’s time (Shani above all) by a few hours against other almanacs.

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